Santhals and their Great Revolt of 1855

Last Updated01/08/2022

In June 1855 Santhals, one of the largest and most dispersed tribal communities revolted against non-tribals, aided by British colonial administrations and their local agents.

Epicenters of the movement: Districts of Birbhum, Murshidabad and Bhagalpur in Bengal and foothills of Rajmahal hills.
Area was allocated for their resettlement through Damin-i-koh regulation of 1832 by British after they suppressed local Paharias in early decade of 19th Century.
Chuar, Bhumij and Kol tribes of Bengal and Bihar had already revolted and expressed their anger over their exploitation by outsiders.
Santhlas from many other areas also came and settled in the area.
Colonial idea was to use the Santhals as a source of labour for the expansion of agriculture and other works.
Santhals were taken everywhere and thus a widely dispersed and disposed community came into being.

In Damin-i-koh or land of the Santhals, community’s hope for a settled agrarian life turned into nightmare, with revenue demands from colonial administration, Zamindars and caste groups.
Land grabbing became regular pattern and begari, practice of bonded labour throttled life of the Santhal men and women.
Newly empowered officials in colonial administration were corrupt and unsympathetic to the simple Santhals.
No wonder when Santhals rose in rebellion, Daroghas, seen as the physical manifestation of an evil power, were their first targets.

“Hull” or the Great Revolt was preceded by many acts of violence against the Zamindars and moneylenders, but were suppressed too easily.
On June 30, 1855, 10,000-strong Santhal force under the leadership of Sido and Kanhu resolved to finish off the exploitative system.
Other exploited non-tribal caste groups too came and joined forces with the Santhals.
Siddhu and Kanhu invoked magical powers and divine instruction of Thakur Bonga, their supreme deity, to eliminate Zamindars and kick out the dikus (outsiders) from Damin-i-koh.
Santhal leaders, men and women, fought heroic battles across Santhal Parganas and neighbouring districts.
It took collective forces of the British artillery, supported by elephant forces and the local armies of Bengali Zamindars, to finally suppress the revolt around January 1856.
Sido was caught and hanged in August 1855, followed by Kanhu in February 1856.

A substantial part of non-tribal community view Santhals as nothing more than a reservoir of cheap labour even today.
Places where they were transported by colonial and post-Independence administration, including to tough terrains to build infrastructure for Indian security needs, speaks of this view of the Santhals.
In their core region too, in Bihar, and now in Jharkhand and Bengal, they have been displaced with opening of coal mines and later with establishment of steel and other industries.
Continued land grab by non-tribals has further marginalised the community, even on their own land.

Memories of such revolts against injustice help us in not allowing forgetfulness to become our collective destiny.